Tag Archives: Beer

Yes, you read that correctly. Bourbon, Bacon, Beer, and Barbecue all under the same roof! I had heard about the 1st Annual 4B Festival taking place in New Haven when it was first announced. I dropped the ball on getting tickets before they sold out so was super excited when I saw Stephanie from CTBites was hosting a giveaway for them. And I won!! I think this was my first giveaway win (it’s about time) and a pretty awesome one at that.

The 4B Fest was held in an old factory in New Haven, Connecticut. It was marketed as the “largest indoor festival celebrating two cornerstones of American heritage:Fermented grains & Salted meats!” (www.4bfest.com) There were a ton of local vendors signed up including some of my favorite local restaurants.

Alyssa’s Cakery is in Wallingford, Connecticut. She was sampling an Orange Allagash cupcake that was really delicious too. Her other flavors included Irish Car Bomb and Red Velvet. On top of the cupcakes she also had cake pops and push pops!

Another favorite booth was The Jerky Hut. They had a ton of different flavored jerkys they were sampling. I tried the sweet flavor as well as the bourbon flavor. We decided to buy some of the bourbon flavored jerky. It was bit pricey though!

I didn’t take as many pictures as I would have liked. It was super crowded and almost everything had long lines. Some other favorites not pictured…

Black Rock BBQ: They had the most generous sized samples of their delicious pulled pork. Black Rock BBQ is a catering company who specialize in southern style barbecue cooking.

Two Roads Brewing Company: Two Roads is a local brewery right in Stratford, Connecticut. My favorite brew was their Worker’s Comp Saison!

Drinx Unlimited: Drinx Unlimited is a local beer distributor out of Connecticut. They were sampling a few different Founder’s Beers. My favorite was their Curmudgeon Old Ale brewed with molasses with a 9.8% abv.

Joey C’s Roadhouse: This is one of mine and Andy’s favorite barbecue restaurants in Connecticut. We didn’t even get to try what they were sampling because their line was so long the entire time we were at the event. Go Joey C’s!

Cabin Fever Maple Whiskey: Just as we were leaving this booth caught our eye. I am not a whiskey drinker but after Andy tasted it he convinced me I would like it. And I did! Anything maple has a good chance of passing a taste test for me. They have a pretty cool story too if you check out their website!

Overall, the event was pretty good. I would give it a 3 out of 5 stars. It has potential to be much more organized and maybe in a more wide open space. All of the vendors we tried and met were awesome though. Great local products. Besides bacon and beer make everything better!

So it was six years ago this week that my 19-year-old self and two best friends were preparing to go to Oktoberfest…yes the real Oktoberfest. We had never been to Europe, did not speak German, and did not book any accommodation. We did however have plane tickets to Munich and apparently very fearless attitudes. What an adventure!

Here are a few of my tip-top tips. Keep in mind this is my advice based on a 3 day trip at the age of 19!

Book your plane tickets far in advance. We booked ours the spring before. The festival is usually the last week of September into October.

If on a budget, check out this camp site (Wiesn Camp). It’s super cheap, close to the festival (train ride away), clean, has shower/bathroom trailers, and a beer and food tent.

Stick together. If you lose your friends it’s probably very unlikely you will find each other quickly.

Be prepared to drink a lot of beer! There isn’t a huge variety and they only come in one size – a liter!

Try some wienerschnitzel! It tastes like fried chicken.

When you sit down at a table in one of the beer tents – they might bring out chicken and fries for the whole table without you asking. At least this is what happened to us 🙂

I literally look back at this trip all the time and just think to myself “I can’t believe I did that.” It almost seems like a dream. This is why I’m going to show you how we navigated this trip through pictures – so I can remember myself!

We arrived at the Munich airport. As you can see we were a little torn between being backpackers and cute tourists. We had no place to stay at this point.

When in culture shock what do you do? Go to a familiar place – like Burger King (ooooor better try local food, and that’s how I discovered those amazing Burgers in Cologne!) This is where we got out the map and brochures and found a camp site to check out.

We made it to the Wiesn Camp, pretended to have a reservation, and got set up with this sweet tent! Now looking back it actually was a great place to stay on a budget. It wasn’t too cold at night, they had a common area that was a great way to meet other travelers, and it was cheap!

We met a great group of guys from Ireland right off the bat. They seemed really nice and like they knew what they were doing – so we decided to stick with them the rest of our first day at the festival. We were glad we did!

The entrance to Oktoberfest.

There were thousands of people! We were very careful to stay together the entire time. As long as you do that you’re good. It really feels like a movie while there!

We got close with the Irish guys quickly! We also kept up with them….that’s a whole lot of beer!

This was one of the German waiters. To realize how much beer he is carrying!?

The next day we tried to be a little touristy and walked through downtown Munich.

The second day of the festival we met some local Germans, drank more beer, and ate huge pretzels. Prost! (That’s cheers in German)

The inside of one of the beer tents. There are so many people in these tents! At one point every person in there broke out in some type of sing-a-long. Again, it was like living in a movie!

We needed proof that we went to Munich so we found the office where they stamped our passports!

I can’t believe that it is officially fall! I have been anticipating the season for a good month now. September is funny in New England. She’s such a tease, or maybe just plays hard to get? One day it’s crisp and cool and the next it’s hot sticky and humid. Well September, there’s no turning back now….fall is officially here. Here are a few of my favorite things about this time of year.

Crisp, cool air that smells like a mixture of leaves, camp fires, and home-made pies (at least that’s what it smells like in my own head).

Foliage!

Anything pumpkin flavored. Coffee, Beer, Pie, Cookies. It seems now a days everything can be pumpkin. I’m fine with that!

Carving pumpkins, scooping out the squishy insides, picking out the seeds and roasting them!

Apple picking, pumpkin picking, hay rides, and corn mazes.

Sweatshirts and sweatpants.

Boot season!

Fall comfort foods…Chili, Beef Stew, Soups.

Thanksgiving!! By far the best holiday.

Oktoberfest festivals at various breweries and bars are always a blast. Can’t wait to go to the Harpoon Oktoberfest in Boston!

Football season for the energy, watching guys get really excited or really mad over a game, tailgating, and Sunday food comas.

Halloween. Last year I got pretty creative with my costume which made it a lot more fun than previous years!